Dodai sprinted through the damp undergrowth, his boots skidding over slick mud as he pushed himself to catch up with Aya. Direct combat wasn't where he excelled; his true strength lay in strategic defense and battlefield support, the kind that could alter the course of a skirmish if applied at the right moment. But before he could chase after Aya, a figure stepped into his path blocking the trail.
The adversary was looked young, hardly past his teenage years, with an almost innocent face with vibrant purple eyes locked onto Dodai, which contrasted with his cold demeanor. He wore a minimalist outfit: a sleeveless black shirt, light-purple pants, and striped leg-warmers wrapped around his calves.
"I am sorry, but I will have to kill you," Mangetsu said as he if he was talking about weather.
Dodai grimaced as he had no interest in wasting precious seconds exchanging words with a boy who had barely reached adulthood, especially not when Aya-sama needed his help against the other Kiri elite. Deciding to end the encounter instantly, Dodai's fingers blurred through a rapid sequence of hand seals.
"Lava Release: Rubber Rope Technique!"
A thick flexible strand of molten rubber shot from his mouth, whipping through the air toward Mangetsu. Dodai intended to bind the boy's limbs instantly to neutralized him.
But the moment the rubber lashed around Mangetsu's chest, the boy's body liquefied into a clear splash of water. The rope passed straight through him, slapping uselessly against the muddy ground.
Dodai pulled back, instantly assessing the situation. "A Hozuki clan member, huh... This was a worst-case matchup for his Lava Release, as physical restraints and crushing attacks meant nothing against a opponent who could liquefy at will."
Realizing he couldn't defeat the teen outright, Dodai changed his plan to stalling. He couldn't allow this youngster to reinforce the rest of the Kirigakure elite who were pressing on Aya-sama. Dodai slammed his hands together into the rat seal and dropped to one knee, driving his palm into the earth.
A dense mass of rubber erupted around Mangetsu, expanding into a massive hollow dome sphere that snapped around trapping the Hozuki completely inside.
"All right, that was surprisingly easy. You can just sit in there for a while," Dodai muttered caught off guard by how seamlessly the trap had succeeded.
Inside the dark enclosed rubber ball, Mangetsu immediately unleashed a concentrated Water Gun Technique, aiming to puncture the barrier. However, Dodai had constructed the structure to be exceptionally thick and dense. The sticky internal surface absorbed the kinetic energy and dispersed the force into the ground without puncturing.
Before Dodai could turn back toward Aya's direction now that he had no need for stalling... a rumbling laughter came from the surrounding fog. "Mangetsu, you really have a lot to learn about dealing with veteran shinobi!"
Fuguki Suikazan emerged from the mist. Without waiting for a response, Fuguki stiffened his long hair transforming it into needle-sharp strands. He snapped his neck forward sending a dense storm of hair senbon flying toward Dodai.
Recognizing the density of the senbon volley, Dodai activated his ultimate defensive maneuver, transforming his own torso and limbs into a resilient malleable Rubber Man form. The rain of hair needles struck his elastic chest, sinking deep into the material without penetrating his vital organs. Straining his core muscles, Dodai compressed his rubberized body and snapped back, catapulting every single needle straight back toward Fuguki.
Fuguki reacted instantly, wrapping his remaining thick hair around himself like a shield to deflect the redirected needles.
"Sharp Hair Spear: Might!"
He roared extending his hardened hair into a massive lance aimed straight at Dodai's chest. The spear struck with tremendous force, but Dodai's rubberized flesh stretched backwards, absorbing the kinetic impact entirely and protecting his internal organs once again saving the day.
Fuguki was growing impatient as his hits did no damage and unclasped his heavy sword coating it in a layer of chakra. He flickered across to deliver a massive blow at the rubber dome which held down Mangetsu.
Inside the rubber sphere, Mangetsu had already realized his water jutsu were ineffective. Without hesitation, he formed the boar and hare hand seals, slapping his palms together to call forth, one of the remaining seven swords of the mist, from the sealing scrolls.
A massive wrapped double-handled blade materialized in his hands... Hiramekarei.
The legendary sword possessed the unique ability to store and unleash vast amounts of chakra. On Mangetsu's command, the accumulated energy surged from the dual holes near the tip of the blade, causing the bandages wrapped tightly around its length to unravel.
A dense blue aura coated the blade, extending outwards to form the shape of a massive longsword. As Mangetsu poured even more chakra into the hilt, the light blade expanded rapidly doubling in thickness and sharpness.
Mangetsu swung the colossal energy blade upward just as Fuguki brought his own weapon crashing down from the outside. The twin impacts shattered the thick rubber dome into chunks of goove.
"You can thank me later for saving you, kid," Fuguki grunted resting his sword against his broad shoulder.
"I never needed your help," Mangetsu replied in flat tone adjusting his grip on Hiramekarei. "I could have gotten out myself. I was merely caught off guard and look at how easily I will kill him."
Without another word, Mangetsu initiated his Hiding in the Mist Technique which was a thick fog rolled across, obscuring all vision within seconds. But unlike traditional mist assassins who relied on silent movement to strike from the shadows, Mangetsu took the technique a step further. Dispersing his physical form entirely into the moisture he vanished from sight and direct perception, in fact he no longer physically existed.
"Mist Ultimate Hiding Technique," his disembodied voice came from everywhere.
Before Dodai could react, the moisture clinging to his body began to condense rapidly. Mangetsu's liquefied state wrapped around Dodai's rubberized torso to anchor himself firmly. Dodai thrashed and pulled at his own skin, attempting to peel the fluid away, but the water slipped through his fingers, impossible to grasp or shake off.
The liquid shifted rapidly, flowing up Dodai's neck to form an airtight globe of water completely encapsulating his head.
Dodai's eyes widened as his air supply was instantly cut off. He tried to blow the water apart but the fluid shifted dynamically with every push. Mangetsu knew his physical attacks couldn't break through Dodai's rubber body, so he chose a method that bypassed physical durability entirely: death by suffocation.
~~
A/N: So, that is how Dodai died... not to worry for his demise would develop his students to improve their strength.
Upto 20 Advance chapters available @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0